The Global Desi: India’s presence around the World

The Overwhelming presence of Indians in the Middle East came to light recently, when 40 construction workers and 50 nurses were taken against their will by the ISIS, militants in Iraq. Indians are said to be numbering around 10,000 in Iraq. Indians are known for their ability to find work and prosper wherever they go, this may be a blatant blanket statement I’m using and you can accuse me of generalizing, but let the facts have it. Indians in America are the most successful immigrant population, over a few millions in Dubai are Indians, constituting 30% of the population and Tamil a language localized to Tamil Nadu in the south of India is one of the national languages of Singapore. Businesses, information technology, academics, acting etc whatever they have aspired for the thrifty Indian has achieved.
Like most immigrants, people migrate to different places in search for a better life, better pay and opportunities for their children. Initially Dubai was going through its boom phase and when that happened, they lacked the skilled labor and managerial skills in the numbers they needed, so Indians stepped in and filled the spot. Dubai and the Middle East hold a particular fascination for the people from the southern state of Kerala. The popular joke is that there are more Keralites in Dubai than in Kerala itself. The Gulf as they say it has proved to be very financially beneficial to them since farming was the main source of income, so they moved to the gulf for the kind of pay they would never make in India. Nurses, skilled workers and managers are most heavily in demand and the emirates made this more alluring by giving them all tax free income. In return most of the Middle East which is running on oil money has been built for them by the Indians.
India saw a mass exodus of Indians to Malaysia and Singapore , earlier days they had migrated to these countries and joined in with them in the farming , with capitalization and commercialization, avenues opened up and soon with education Indians abroad were thriving and continue to do so. These countries have also been welcoming and recently Tamil was made a national language in both Malaysia and Singapore. Bollywood movies are released in these countries at the same time as in India, and there is an abundance of Indian restaurants wherever the Indian goes.
Southall in the UK is the basis of many jokes, as being a mini India, cab driver jokes also are in abundance, Punjabis and Gujaratis form the maximum number of Indian immigrants in the UK, with farming in India not being seen as a viable option and the promise of earning in pounds most migrate and pick up menial jobs if they aren’t educated and try for better jobs if they’re educated but since there is dignity in labor in the west, they do manage to thrive.
America, Canada and Australia are the three other countries where Indians look to migrate; here the migrating Indian has managed to stand out. Indian origin and Chinese students perform the best in America. The spelling bee champion in America for years now has been Indian origin students. Silicon Valley in the U.S. which saw a boom in computers is being led by a large number of engineers mainly from India. The phenomena of brain drain which is costing the country billions.
Indians also form the ethnic group with the highest per capita income in America, over 3 million Indians are living in America and in a recent study over 1 million have got the voting rights in the U.S.
Indian origin pageant contestant Nina Davuluri was crowned Miss America 2014, while Indians felt they were finally getting their due, the racial outburst that followed where her fellow Americans likened her to a terrorist. All over the world, thought Indians have found a place for themselves they also face racism, discrimination and sometimes even governments are unfair to the immigrant population. For example Indians born in Dubai do not get any rights as the Arabs, Indians cannot own property and though treated well are reminded that they are merely guests in their country.
Australia and Canada has also witnessed hate crimes against South Asians and Indian children sometimes grow up insecure and unsure about their own identity. The British never really accept the Indians and racial slurs and hate crimes are common. This has prompted the phenomena of reverse brain drain, more and more Indians are returning to their motherland.
So start ups and entrepreneurs from the west have become a common sight. India is touted to be one of the next superpowers and now with India’s economy taking off and an abundance of resources, India has once again become desirable to its own people. The life of an Indian expat is difficult but some make it while others don’t, either way the spirit of Indians can be seen and felt throughout the world.